Archive for July, 2011

Too Many Lawyers Not Enough Jobs: New York Edition

{ July 5, 2011 @ 6:24 pm } · { Uncategorized }
{ Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , } · { Comments (7) }

The statistics cannot be ignored, slow economy, too many lawyers not enough jobs = Do Not Attend law school. We warned you and now more than ever main stream media is catching up. Because it’s so obvious and so overwhelming. Where before, say five or more years ago, one had an excuse, no knowledge of deceptive statistics, false encouragement of upward mobility, the higher education will make your life better. The Wall Street Journal is telling you there aren’t enough jobs for attorneys and they’re just referring to the NEWLY minted law graduates; not those who have been laid off or otherwise terminated, from the high ranking partnerships to the staff attorney who find that there is no resources awaiting them in the legal industry.So add that to the 9,000 new law school graduates in New York alone. Here you go:

New York Times Report Show Lawyer Surplus Law Jobs Shortage, Lawcrossing Finds 29,000 Attorney Jobs

Pasadena, CA — (SBWIRE) — 06/29/2011
The New York Times is reporting that the tough job market for new lawyers is partly a result of a lawyer glut in the law jobs market.

The article is based on data gathered and analyzed by Economic Modeling Specialists Inc. (EMSI), a consulting firm specializing in economic analysis and employment data. The figures gathered by EMSI in fact show that the law schools are graduating more JDs than the economy can absorb for the next few years.

EMSI has taken as its baseline the number of people passing the bar in every state and DC in 2009. The numbers were then put up against the number of estimated job openings for lawyers in those states for the period 2010-15. In every state except Wisconsin and Nebraska, plus DC, there was a lawyer surplus.

The biggest surplus was in New York. 9,787 people passed the bar in 2009 for an estimated 2,100 openings for the period 2010-15. Nationwide, there were only 26,239 job openings for lawyers, while 53,508 people passed the bar. California was in second page with almost 3,000 lawyers in surplus.

Even Nebraska and Wisconsin just have negligible surpluses of law jobs for lawyers. But even though attorney jobs for new lawyers are scare, they exist in most states. LawCrossing is a job aggregator site for all types of legal jobs. The site has been able to locate over 5,500 attorney jobs in New York alone. Nationwide it has located over 29,000 attorney jobs.

Guys! Keep it Up: Law School Enrollment Decreases (via Associated Press)

{ July 3, 2011 @ 8:31 pm } · { Uncategorized }
{ Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , } · { Leave a Comment }

Law School Enrollment in Missouri Lags as legal jobs dry up

July 3, 2011

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Last Updated: July 03, 2011 – 2:55 pm

Time is the answer. Initially viewed as disgruntled scam bloggers, these posts have given laymen and 0Ls insight to the disheartening new reality of the legal industry. At least people in Missouri get it. Now only we wait for the impact to reach the heavily saturated areas likeWashingtonDCmetro,New York,PennsylvaniaandCalifornia. Interesting how the article makes reference to the one law graduate probably willing to expose his dire situation in that state with “at least it’s something.” Keep telling yourself that. We’ll see. In the meantime let your eyes enjoy the following:

ST. LOUIS—Missouri law schools expect fewer students in the fall after several years of significant enrollment growth both regionally and nationally.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported this week that theUniversityofMissouri’s flagship campus inColumbiahas received 17 percent fewer applications this year. Applications atWashingtonUniversitydropped 13.3 percent, whileSt. LouisUniversityis seeing a nearly 20 percent decline.

A national group that tracks law school enrollment says that applications are down more than 10 percent overall compared to this time last year.

The economic downturn means that law school graduates can no longer count on landing lucrative jobs straight out of college. The declining interest comes one year after many schools reported record enrollment.

“The stories about the legal market have certainly dampened some people’s enthusiasm,” said Paul Pless, assistant dean for admissions and financial aid at theUniversityofIllinoisat Urbana-Champaign College of Law. Applications atIllinoisare down nearly 8 percent so far this year.

Melissa Hamilton, 35, is a recentUniversityofMissourilaw school graduate still looking for a job. She’s applied for a few government positions but is waiting until she passes the bar exam before making a stronger push. She’s also looking into jobs where she could also use her master’s degree in social work.

“I’ve known for the past year it would be hard to find a job,”Hamiltonsaid. “It’s making me open my search up to things I wouldn’t have considered. I kind of have to get creative.”

Area schools say that the declining interest hasn’t translated into a lower overall quality of applicant, at least as measured by test scores.

Local legal observers even offer a positive spin on the drop — they say it may help the profession by weeding out students who lack a passion for law.

“That’s not a bad thing, that people are thinking about it on the front end,” said Lawrence Dessem, dean ofMissouri’s law school. “I have a sense it may lead to more satisfied lawyers down the line.”

Mary Ann Clifford, assistant dean for admissions atWashingtonUniversity, suggested that an influx of first-year law students coming straight from their undergraduate experiences helped account for last year’s surge. With fewer jobs overall, students who otherwise would work a few years before applying to law school instead went immediately into graduate school.

Law firms are also adjusting to the new economic reality. Some have developed nonpartner track positions with lower ceilings in terms of pay, benefits and prestige. More are relying on contract attorneys, a higher-paying version of the temp worker. And customers are demanding great efficiencies from the firms they employ.

“Obviously, law firms serve clients. As those clients go through economic struggles, you see a change in demand for legal services,” said Dan Nelson, partner and hiring chairman for Armstrong Teasdale inSt. Louis.

Not all area graduates are struggling to find work. Ty Harden, 33, is a recentMissourigraduate who was offered the first job he interviewed for, a position with a small civil litigation firm inSpringfield.

He figures that one advantage he had over some of his still-unemployed classmates was a willingness to consider jobs, regardless of where they might be situated.

“It’s probably a matter of flexibility,” Harden said.